Miles from Where You Are
by TheBrightestNight
Summary: They both ran away when they were nine. Met when he was fourteen and she was twelve. Were together for two years. Were a family. The Fates brought them together and the Fates tore them apart. But it would seem Aphrodite has other plans for the two...
1. One

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Percy Jackson**

**A/N: Watching a video, made by krs19911, about Thalia and Luke on YouTube inspired me to write this. (Link will be on my website and promo video—link to my website will be at the top of my profile page.)**

**Super short story****, AU (Annabeth doesn't travel with them, to name one) third POV, Luke/Thalia, takes place before and during The Lightning Thief, cross between the book and the movie (they'll all be older, like in the movies, for example). Also, I have not yet read The Lost Hero (I know shocker, right?) so sorry if I get some facts wrong. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>Trust is like a vase… once it's broken, though you can fix it, the vase will never be the same again. ~ Unknown<em>

Thalia—a lithe, strong, nine-year-old girl, with short black hair and a splash of freckles across her nose—crept down the hallway, taking light steps, because she knew the floors creaked. When she got to her mother's bedroom she peeked around the doorframe to see what her mother was doing. The scene she saw reminded her of movies she'd seen when she was younger.

Her mom was sitting in a recliner, the back facing Thalia, the front facing the TV, which was currently featuring an infomercial about a blender that "could do everything!" The volume was low, the words like a buzzing in Thalia's ear.

One of her mother's hands hung from the side, loosely holding an empty liquor bottle. Thalia could hear her mom's soft snoring.

_Good_, she thought pulling away and tip-toeing back down the hallway and to her room. She closed the door and locked it, before turning and leaning against it. She took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart. Tonight was the night she was going to sneak out. She needed to escape this place. It wasn't home anymore.

Jason had been the only thing keeping her here and now he was gone. Dead.

Thalia's hand balled into a fist, slamming down against the door. Tears quickly filled her eyes. It was all her mother's fault! She wasn't even responsible enough to look after her brother while Thalia went to go get the picnic basket. It had only taken a couple of minutes! Their mother couldn't even look after him from that long?

Thalia blinked and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She quickly reached up to wipe them away. She was going to do this. It was clear her mother didn't care about Jason, so why should she care about Thalia?

Taking another deep breath, Thalia straightened up and looked around her spotless room. It felt cold and foreign to her now.

She double checked to make sure that she had her metal, chain bracelet that transformed into Aegis—a shield with the face of Medusa engraved in it—and her spear for the monsters that weren't babies and ran away from the sight of her shield. She wasn't taking anything but those two items and the clothes on her back: a black tee underneath a black leather jacket with buttons from her favorite bands, and black, ripped jeans.

This had, more or less, been a last minute decision. Besides, a backpack would weigh her down. She needed speed and agility.

Thalia unlocked and opened her door again. She stuck her head out, looking up and down the hallway. She was taking no chances tonight. She slipped out and closed her door once again before sneaking down the hall to the front door.

Half-way through opening the door, however, Thalia realized that the TV in her mother's bedroom was no longer buzzing about blenders. She froze, the blood in her veins running cold. She started silently praying. She was only sneaking out because she hadn't wanted to make it harder than it already was. If her mother found out, there might be yelling and door slamming before Thalia took off. That wasn't the ideal quiet escape she'd been imagining.

Thalia relaxed though, when nothing happened for a few moments. Just to make sure, she forced her head to turn and look down the hallway. It was swallowed in darkness. No sound came from her mother's bedroom now. Thalia turned back and swiftly headed out and down the sidewalk.

The night was chilly. The stars twinkled against the black sky, cold and bright. The moon was just a silver sliver hanging, not giving much light.

But Thalia didn't feel the cold; her eyesight not at all hampered in the dim moonlight. She walked with purpose down the street, quick and silent, without a single backward glance as the house she used to call a home disappeared slowly, but surely.

* * *

><p>Thalia was hungry.<p>

No, not hungry… _ravished_. She was ravished. She hadn't eaten in just over three days now. Fighting off monsters she'd happen across wasn't helping either. Her energy level was flat-lining. She needed food. She needed water. But she didn't have any cash on her.

Thalia cursed silently. It'd been going so well for her for the past three years. Why did this town have to be different that the others?

She crossed her arms and glared out of the alley she was sitting in. It wasn't the ideal resting place, but she needed to stop or she'd keel over. The sun was just setting, turning the sky a dark blue. Few people were out and about, walking periodically on the sidewalks, right past Thalia, not noticing her at all. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Thalia's stomach growled.

"Just shut up." she grumbled looking back at the brick wall opposite of her. In the past she'd usually sit out on the sidewalk with a little can to collect money in, and look like a helpless, homeless, little girl (and sometimes she'd con them out of cash). That got her at least twenty bucks for the day. But this city apparently didn't feel bad for their homeless because nobody was giving her anything. She thought about stealing from someone, but she couldn't get herself to do it. There was only two ways that she could steal a wallet from a person: hold them up with her spear, or pickpocket them.

She didn't know how to pickpocket and holding them up seemed like a sure-fire way to end up in jail. Thalia just wasn't going to risk it.

Loud barking snapped her out of her brooding. She crawled over to the entrance of the alley and peeked out to her right just in time to see a golden retriever jumping up on a man in a suit. Its tail was wagging and it was barking excitedly. The man was on the phone didn't look too happy about his new-found friend.

"Get off! Get off me!" the man shouted trying to pull away from the dog. "Hey! Hey—Hold on a sec, Scott." he yelled into his phone. "Whose dog is this!" Just as he said this, two people, a man and woman, came rushing up to the suit dude. The man held a red leash in his hand.

"Rose!" the girl called as the guy grabbed the dog's collar and yanked. Rose resisted, still pulling toward the suited man and barking loudly.

"What is that mangy mutt doing off his leash! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" the guy yelled, his face red.

"I'm sorry sir." the girl quickly mended as his boyfriend, Thalia assumed, wrestled with Rose. "I guess the leash broke. We apologize—"

"I don't want your apologies!" the suit guy snapped. "How inconsiderate is that? Letting your dog attack me! You should be lucky that I'm not going to press charges!"

"Hey, no need to be that way, dude!" The other guy popped in, standing up for his girl, letting Rose slip from his grasp. She jumped excited onto the suit guy again. That had been his breaking point. He jabbed his knee into the dog's chest and she veered back whimpering.

Both the woman and man started objected and calling animal abuse, but the suit guy was already walking off, bringing his phone back to his ear.

"Sorry, Scott. Some couple's stupid dog." he muttered.

Thalia stood up, gripping her spear in her right hand tightly. Well, robbing him wouldn't be a crime, would it? She asked herself. He did hurt that dog. Rose was just having fun. There was no need to kick her. And the couple had tried to apologize.

Thalia was just about to step out when she spotted a boy, who looked about her age (maybe two years older than her), coming toward the suit guy. He was a little taller than her, kind of… lanky in her opinion, wearing jeans, and a t-shirt underneath a faded green jean jacket. His blond hair was in slight disarray.

She stopped short and watched as the kid walked into the angry, suit man.

"Watch it kid!" the suit guy growled pulling back slightly and hurriedly shuffling past. "Some people are just so self-centered." he told his friend Scott.

Thalia's eyes watched the guy go, still debating on whether or not she was going to rob him, when she heard a low chuckle. Her eyes strayed back to the blond-haired boy. He, too, was watching the guy walk away but had a mischievous, triumphant grin on his face. His blue eyes shined and Thalia could just hear him say, "Sucker!"

Thalia's eyes narrowed and she noticed something in his hands. Something black, small… a wallet! Did this kid just steal that guy's wallet? Where had he learned the skills?

Thalia shook herself. No time for that. Maybe she didn't _need_ to rob an innocent person (as mean as that suit guy had been). She could just take the wallet from this boy. It was kind of like Robin Hood. Except she was stealing from the stealer to give to the poor.

Shrugging, at her train of thought, Thalia stepped out of the alley. He was too busy admiring his work to notice her come up behind him and when he turned he came face to face with her spear's tip. She didn't care if people were possibly watching. She was desperate. Her stomach was shrieking, _Feed me! Feed me!_

Thalia held out her free hand, palm up.

"Hand it over, kid." she ordered.

The boy's eyes widened innocently, not very fazed at the fact that she was holding him a spear point… or whatever he saw through the Mist. Thalia ignored this.

"What do you mean?" he asked acting clueless.

"You know exactly what I mean. The wallet. Hand it over. _Now_." she barked again, becoming inpatient. If this boy didn't do as she said things weren't going to be very pretty.

"Oh, this!" the boy exclaimed holding up the small, square, black thing.

Thalia nodded slowly.

He shoved it into his pocket. "No way. This is mine. I plan to keep it."

Thalia snorted. "I saw you take it from that jerk on the phone." She stepped closer to him, the arrow tip almost brushing the boy's throat. "Now hand it over. I'm not going to ask again."

The boy's hands shot up in surrender. "Hey, I'm with you." Thalia's eyebrows knit together. "Half-blood, right? What's your name?"

Thalia scrutinized this blond haired boy for a second before dropping her spear and trying not the blush. She probably should've known he was a half-blood too. "I am Thalia, daughter of Zeus."

"I'm Luke." Luke introduced, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Son of…" Thalia prodded.

Luke paused for a moment, like it was hard for him to say who it was. "Hermes."

_Well, that explains the stealing,_ Thalia thought.

"You look hungry. Why don't we get a bite to eat." Luke suggested. "My treat." He grinned waving the freshly stolen wallet.

Thalia rolled her eyes but agreed. Another half-blood companion sounded nice (and the food too). Now she had someone who could watch her back, help her fight monsters, steal when they needed food…. It sounded like your ideal friendship.

* * *

><p>"You run away too?" Luke asked.<p>

Thalia nodded but didn't say anything pertaining to why.

They were at the same alley she's been sitting in before they met. They stood further in, side-by-side. Luke had just come back from throwing away their trash.

"Family?" Luke prompted sneaking a long sideways glance at Thalia who was staring down at her shoes. Luke looked up at the sky. The moon had appeared and with it, some stars. He turned his head back to Thalia who still found something fascinating with her shoes. "Nice shoes."

Thalia made a face at his attempt to lighten the mood.

Luke leaned against the wall, his hands in his jacket pockets. "It was just me and my mom." Luke started looking everywhere but Thalia who was looking at him.

"Why'd you run away?" she asked, her electric blue eyes now trained on Luke's face.

"My mom's crazy." Luke answered flatly. Thalia looked down, feeling bad she ever even asked. "She has these… _fits_. Her eyes turn green, and her voice cracks and she spouts out—" He broke off suddenly, "…things." he amended quietly.

"I'm sorry." Thalia murmured still looking down at a piece of chewed gun stuck to the ground.

Luke shrugged.

"It was just me and my mom too." Thalia said trying to make him feel better. She decided that she wouldn't mention her brother; it was still too fresh, too painful. "She's a drunk." Thalia chuckled without humor. "Guess we've both get family issues, huh?" She looked over at Luke who was turning a rock he'd picked up over in his hands.

"Who needs them?" Luke asked bitterly, chucking the rock with great force. It hit the wall across from them and bounced back, landing at Luke's feet. Luke looked over at Thalia. "Why don't we start our own family?"

"Uh, no offense, but I just met you." Thalia pointed out warily.

Luke smiled. "Yeah, but you could use my experience. Been on the run for five years. I could teach you a thing or two. And I'd never abandon you like our parents did. We'd stick together and take care of each other, like a real family is supposed to do."

"For your information, I've been on the run for three years by myself, thank you very much." Thalia defended herself. "It's just this stupid city." she muttered, crossing her arms.

"So, what do you say?" Luke asked, like she hadn't said anything else at all.

Thalia looked over at him, and thought about his offer. It sounded like a pretty good deal to Thalia. How could she say no?

She was about to answer when there was some rattling of the trash cans, nearby. Her back straightened and she instinctively seized her spear.

"Did you hear that?" she asked in a whisper.

Luke was looking around intently, but it had gotten pretty dark. "Yeah," he answered. Without another word, Luke took Thalia's hand and pulled her out of the alleyway. His grip was firm and his hand warm.

"Wait, where are we going? Shouldn't we find whatever that was and fight it?" Thalia asked running slightly behind Luke.

"Just somewhere we can stay for the night. I'm sure it'll be fine if we skip just this once." Luke answered pausing a moment before turning down another alley.

"Is it safe?"

Luke grinned. "Completely."

"I don't know—" Thalia was still hesitant. What if that monster was following them?

Luke stopped and squeezed her hand. "We're family now, Thalia." Her name coming from Luke's mouth did odd things to Thalia's heart. "Trust me. I promise I won't let any harm come to you."

He started to take off again.

"Hey! Now, wait a minute!" Thalia exclaimed ripping her hand from his and pushing herself so she could run next to Luke. She kept pace with him fairly well. "I'm not a little girl. You may be older than me, but I know how to take care of myself, for your information."

Luke chuckled and Thalia resisted the urge to run ahead of him. He was supposed to be leading the way after all.

* * *

><p>"Wow, you <em>made<em> this." Thalia commented as she stepped into the small shelter that Luke had apparently built. It was finely camouflaged on the outside, and on the inside wasn't what Thalia was expecting at all. For one, it was good-sized. For two, it had an unrolled sleeping bag, blankets off to the side, an ice chest in the corner, and a kerosene lamp next to the head of the sleeping bag. It was currently on, the flame flickering.

There were also some weapons (and even a box of ambrosia). A couple of bronze javelin tips, a quiver of arrows and a sword. Where Luke had gotten all this was beyond Thalia, even if he was the son of Hermes.

Luke sat down on the sleeping bag and Thalia took a seat on the folded up blankets.

"It was nothing." Luke said smirking.

"Modest." Thalia stated dryly.

Luke shrugged.

That night the temperature dropped like a dead fly. Thalia didn't know how cold, but it was _cold_!

"Thalia, you're going to freeze." Luke reasoned for the millionth time that night. Thalia glared at him, huddling in the pile of blankets, drawing them closer and tighter to her.

"I-I-I-I'm f-f-f-fine."

But obviously she wasn't. She was shivering violently, and she could barely talk, her teeth were chattering so much.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid."

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "W-w-w-w-well w-what d-do y-y-you suggest Eins-s-s-stein?" she shot back.

"I'm disappointed," Luke mocked. "It's survival one-oh-one!"

"J-j-just t-tell me, d-d-dammit." Thalia ordered holding the blankets even closer, trying to stay warm.

Luke started to unzip the zipper of his sleeping bag.

"O-o-oh no! N-n-not h-happening!" Thalia turned her back on him, curling even more, trying to keep the body heat that was left in her body.

Luke slipped out and went to kneel over Thalia.

"I'm not going to let you freeze." he told her gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And you know you're going to if you don't get into that sleeping bag." His voice became stern.

Thalia turned her head so she could look at Luke. She knew he was right. She was just being stubborn. But she had a reason to be! She'd _just_ met him!

Luke's eyes narrowed. "And you know it, don't you." Thalia rolled her eyes grudgingly. "I don't bite." Luke joked. Thalia huffed and pulled the blankets over her again. "I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me."

Well, he hadn't killed her yet….

And she was practically an icicle….

So, maybe, it wasn't such a bad idea.

"O-o-okay." Thalia muttered throwing the blankets off. Luke moved out of the way and she crawled over into the sleeping bag. It was still warm. After getting situated, Luke slid in next to her and zipped up the sleeping bag. There was probably half an inch left of room.

Thalia convulsed once in a harsh shiver, as she realized just how cold she'd been. The warmth was refreshing, relieving.

Luke put his arms around her, holding her to his chest, and she didn't object, the only thing running through her head that she was frozen and she needed to unfreeze. Because when you're on the verge of hypothermia being this close to a boy didn't really matter at the moment.

"Better?" he asked after a few minutes.

"A-a-almost b-better," she answered her teeth still chattering slightly, her body still trembling. Thalia huddled closer to Luke, resting her head on his shoulder. Luke flinched at just how cold she was.

"S-s-sorry," Thalia mumbled closing her eyes, her shivers becoming less and less.

Luke rubbed her arm, trying to generate heat. "It's fine." he said after a moment.

Thalia took a deep breath as the last of the cold left her body. It was like a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a sauna for hours on end. She relaxed and her mind wandered.

Luke looked down at her. "You're lips are still blue," he stated amused. "Would you like me to warm those up for you too?"

Thalia opened her eyes to glare up at him. "Watch it buddy or you may find yourself not being able to have kids in the future." she warned.

"Joking, joking," Luke assured.

Thalia closed her eyes again. "Yeah, you'd better be." she muttered. Luke chuckled softly and Thalia made an annoyed noise in response. It became quiet in the little half-blood hideout and Thalia slowly drifted into sleep, her mind thinking about how good she felt in Luke's embrace, how safe she felt. How, being in his arms, made her feel kind of funny….

* * *

><p>"It's been years," Thalia spoke a moment after Luke had come to sit down next to her on the park bench. She had needed to get out of their little shelter. She needed some fresh air, to move around a little. "One small town after another." Thalia looked out over the lake several yards away from them, a small, paved pathway in front of the lake.<p>

The day was sunny, the grass was green, there was a cool breeze warning of the coming fall.

"Yeah, I know." Luke said, also looking out over the lake.

They'd been on the run for about two years now. Things had changed a lot since they'd first met. Two half-bloods together was pretty bad, but Thalia being the daughter of one of the Big Three her stench was strong and very potent. As the weeks passed more and more monsters attacked them. They'd been in fights with more horrible monsters than she could count. Even now, she was on high alert, silently scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

Now that she was older, she was starting to address the funny feelings she got whenever she was around Luke. Or when he got close to her in any way. They had been small, miniscule even, when she was only twelve, but she was fourteen now. Officially a teenager (back then she'd just been a preteen; it was a totally different ballgame). And the feelings were getting stronger.

Of course, she still wasn't old enough to confront these feelings just yet. She was scared of what would happen. Were they true? Or were they just there because they'd been together for three years, on the run, fighting monsters, conning people for money, together.

They were family.

The peaceful afternoon was quickly shattered when a scream ripped through the air. Thalia and Luke jumped up, eyes darting around, looking for the source of the scream. It wasn't some kids playing around, it was a dead serious, terrified-for-your-life scream.

Then Thalia spotted it. Her eyes widened and her hand gripped her spear.

Several yards away from them and getting closer, fast, was a hellhound the size of a rhino, tearing through the park, straight toward the two demigods. Its red eyes burned like lava, burned with hunger. Its lips were pulled back in a menacing snarl; teeth sharp as knives.

More screaming sounded as more mortals saw it run across the park. Thalia wasn't quite sure what they were seeing, but it obviously wasn't some escaped golden retriever.

Luke and Thalia exchanged a glance. She tapped her bracelet and Aegis spun out. The hellhound was upon them. Thalia jerked her shielded arm forward, smacking the hound in the snout with a satisfying _wham!_ The monsters stumbled back, shaking its head, disoriented. Luke took advantage of those precious seconds and slashed with his sword.

The hound yelped before collapsing the ground and coiling in on itself, returning back to the Underworld. Luke turned to look at Thalia.

"That was too easy." he said.

"My thoughts exactly." Thalia replied, eyes flickering back to the spot where the hellhound had disappeared. "A ruse?"

"We'd better get back to our shelter." Luke suggested, both of them getting a really bad gut feeling. With a nod, they took off running, out of the park and back to the shelter they'd built for that week or so.

Thalia smelled the smoke before she saw the fire. The wind blew toward them, looking like fog. She stumbled and stopped, choking and gagging on the thick, grey smoke. It burned her nose, and her eyes stung, filling with tears.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked, coughing as well, but not as violently.

Thalia nodded and sunk to the ground, trying not to breathe in too much smoke. Luke grasped her wrist and pulled her to her feet and started dragging her out of the column of smoke.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked again when they had escaped the noxious fumes.

Thalia inhaled clean air and nodded, retching a few more times to clear her throat.

"Come on," Luke said his voice lowering. He crept forward, dodging the smoke. Thalia followed, looking behind and to the sides of them, anticipating an ambush, just in case.

Luke stopped, catching his breath.

"What do you see?" Thalia asked unnecessarily as she came to stand next to him. At least three telkhines, holding torches. There was a taller, older-looking one and two others that were younger-looking. The two young ones were holding torches, and giggling hysterically as they poked and prodded at the blazing fire that used to Luke and Thalia's shelter.

"Quiet!" the eldest telkhine hissed. The two stopped and dropped their torches. "I sense half-bloods."

Luke and Thalia exchanged a concerned glance and started to retreat, but when they turned, they came face to face with two hellhounds. Like the other one they'd fought a moment ago in the park.

The hellhounds growled, crouching low, glaring at the two half-bloods murderously.

"You take the hellhounds. I'll take the old man and the giggle twins over here." Luke whispered.

Thalia nodded and they stood back to back, the telkhines advanced just as the hellhounds jumped at the same time.

Thalia held her shield up and braced herself for impact. Behind her, Luke slashed through one of the giggle twins easily, the monster dissolving into dust with a poof. The two telkhines left bared their fangs.

Thalia grunted and balanced herself as the two hounds slammed into her shield. She quickly jabbed at one of them, only giving it a small cut. Not large enough to make it disintegrate.

She slashed as the other as it came at her and rolled out of the way of the other almost simultaneously. She leaped to her feet just as the hellhound hit the ground. Without really thinking about the consequences of her actions, she threw her spear at its hindquarters. It was a direct hit and soon there was nothing left but the spear.

Unfortunately, it was several feet away and the other hellhound was in a crouch, growling at her, its eyes fixated only on her. She took a fleeting glance in Luke's direction. He was dueling with the old man, the other giggle twin nowhere to be seen.

Thalia didn't want to distract him. One wrong move and he could be hurt, or worse. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to Luke. She turned to face the hound again. She started to circle, and the hound followed. All she needed to do was get her spear back. But "how" was the question.

"Come on," she taunted. "Be a big boy dog and attack me!"

Maybe not the best strategy she'd used thus far, but she had to do something or she'd be dog chow.

The hellhound barked and lunged; she slammed her shield in its face at the very last minute and quickly lunged toward her spear. She was feet short, but this hound recovered much faster than the other. Thalia rolled over to see it midair, paws outstretched, eyes eager.

She swiftly rolled to the side and out of the way just as the hellhound's massive paws hit the ground, making small craters in the dirt. Thalia scrambled to her feet, but it managed to lash out and catch her leg.

Thalia fell back down with a thud, crying out in pain, and grasped her leg, turning over onto her back. Her veins burned with like acid licking its way up her leg, spreading through her body, her heart only making it worse. Spreading it further.

The hellhounds lips pulled back in a twisted grin. Thalia threw her shield in front of her just as it pounced. She strained her arm trying to keep the hound balanced on her shield, and keeping it from choking her.

The hound's jaws snapped inches from her face. The fire spreading through her body wasn't helping either. Her vision blurred, her chest felt tight, and her arm would collapse occasionally, bringing the hellhound's razor-sharp teeth that much closer to her face.

"Luke!" she cried blindly, for the hellhound was in the way. "Luke! Help!" She gritted her teeth and turned her head away as the hound's breath blew into her face. Her arm slackened again and Thalia could feel the weight of the hellhound come down on her, pushing the breath right out of her lungs.

She gasped for breath and thought for sure that this was the end when air whooshed back into her.

"Thalia!" Luke's voice called sounding echo-y and distant. "Thalia!" It was more clear and louder this time.

Thalia blinked and turned her head up. She blinked hard a couple of times before Luke came into focus.

Luke's features relaxed slightly. "Are you okay?"

Thalia slowly sat up. "No, my leg." she spat, looking down at it. Three large claw marks, going diagonally down her leg. Blood colored the forest floor and dribbled down her ankle.

"Can you walk on it?" Luke asked his voice strained.

"What, what's wrong?" Thalia asked, knowing him well enough to know that they weren't out of danger.

"There's more." he whispered. "We need to get moving. I know… I know where we can go to get your leg fixed up, if you can walk on it."

Thalia started to get up, ignoring the inflammation of pain throughout. "Yeah, I can." she grunted, limping over to grab her spear. "Let's go."

Luke looked at her skeptically, but when rustling and what sounded like slithering, started up somewhere behind them, they started to quickly make their way toward Luke's old home.

* * *

><p>"Just a little father!" Luke said, his chest heaving. "How are you holding up?"<p>

Thalia drove the telkhine back and jabbed him with her spear. He evaporated into dust.

"Fine." she answered. "Got the last one."

"For now." Luke said grimly.

They both clambered up a small hill and stood at the top of a ridge overlooking a white Colonial house.

Luke's old home.

May Castellan's house.

"All right," Luke said trying to catch his breath. "I'll just sneak in and grab some food and medicine. Wait here."

"Luke, are you sure?" Thalia questioned. "You swore you'd never come back here. If she catches you—"

"We don't have a choice." he growled, cutting her off. "They burned our nearest safe house." His eyes softened. "And you've got to treat that leg wound."

"But—"

"Just wait here. I promise everything will be okay." He glanced back towards the woods. "Nothing's going to hurt you. I'll be back—"

Both Luke and Thalia flinched and averted their eyes, holding their hands up instinctively, as a flash of light as bright as the sun flashed before them.

"You should not have come home." a powerful voice thundered.

* * *

><p>Thalia sat in the kitchen, as May bandaged up her leg. Her eyes flickered back and forth between her and Luke and Hermes, who were having a stare down in the living room.<p>

The house flickered with candles, throwing weird and oddly scary shadows across the walls.

May babbled on about something that Thalia wasn't exactly listening to. She was more focused on what was going on between Luke and Hermes. But the thing she wanted most was to get out of there. She was afraid that May would break out into one of her fits, and it wasn't doing Luke any good meeting his father like this; under such stressful conditions.

"Why show yourself now?" Luke asked, breaking the silence. His whole body was tense, his hands clenching and unclenching. He continued speaking but he had lowered his voice and Thalia couldn't hear. "…with _her_." His voice rose again as his hand pointed accusingly into the kitchen.

Hermes's voice was much more mellow and soft, as he stared evenly back as his son. Thalia couldn't hear a single word he'd said. And, maybe, that was the way he wanted it.

"I'm not a god!" Luke shouted suddenly, startling Thalia slightly. His voice leveled out again as he continued the quarrel. May had finished bandaging Thalia's leg now and was chattering on about Luke when he was first born as she poured Kool-Aid. Thalia chewed her lip and rubbed her leg uncomfortably.

When Thalia looked back out Hermes was talking again. She noticed a change in Luke's stance as Hermes finished his sentence. And even though she couldn't read lips, she knew well enough as Luke asked, "What?" He said something else though that she couldn't read.

Then it was Hermes's turn. Luke became angered again.

"We're doing fine without your help." he snarled. Thalia let out a frustrated sigh as he continued to talk, but yet again couldn't hear or understand the rest of the sentence.

More exchanged words.

Luke seemed to become more and more upset at every word that came out of Hermes's mouth.

"Then you don't care!" Luke burst. May abruptly stopped talking.

"Luke?" she called, stepping past the counter slightly. "Is that you? Is my boy all right?"

Luke turned his head away from the kitchen door. "I'm fine." he answered trying hard not to let his voice shake. "I have a new family. I don't need either of you."

"I'm your father," Hermes disagreed, for once speaking loud enough for Thalia to hear.

"A _father_ is supposed to be around." Luke spat angrily. "I've never even _met_ you. Thalia, come on! We're leaving!"

"My boy, don't go!" May cried. "I have your lunch ready!"

Luke ignored her and stormed out the door. Thalia scrambled off the stool and followed him, relieved to be out of there.

Luke was a few feet ahead of her, walking at a brisk pace, not looking back.

"Luke!" Thalia called, limping after him. Thankfully her leg felt much better, but it still burned. "Luke, wait!" He didn't seem to hear her. She let out a growl and pushed herself harder to keep up with him. After a block or two, Thalia stopped, fed up. "_Luke Castellan!_" she growled.

That stopped him. Thalia slowly caught up with him.

"I know you're angry—" she started slowly and quietly, but Luke interrupted her.

"Angry?" he shouted turning toward her. "You think I'm _angry_? I'm furious! I ran away seven years ago! And _now_ he decides to show up? Now!"

"Hey, now, wait just a minute!" Thalia shouted back. "Don't go taking your anger on me! I did not do anything to you! You need to calm down, Luke. I don't like seeing you like this." Her voice shook as it lowered. "When you're angry you do stupid things. And stupid things cause people to get hurt. I don't want you to do something stupid." Luke opened his mouth, his eyebrows still furrowed angrily, but Thalia continued on before he could interrupt her again. "I don't want you to get hurt.

"We're family, remember? We take care of each other. Always." she reminded him.

Luke stared down at the raven-haired girl and with a few deep breaths realized she was right. But that anger was still there, roiling inside of him. Hermes didn't believe in him. That was it. That was why. Hermes didn't care about him. He _never_ cared about him.

Even so, Thalia could see the change in Luke as the days past. He always wanted to get into fights with monsters. Of course, they kind of had to because of all the monsters that seemed to be following them. But if they went even a couple of hours without a fight he'd go out, searching for them, it was that bad.

Thalia just didn't know what to do. She was only fourteen. She was still growing up, even if she had to have matured beyond her years to run away like that; for her to fight monsters like that. She was still just a kid.

What should she say? How would she say it so it wouldn't hurt him?

It was like he was trying to prove something. And maybe he did need to prove something. But being reckless wasn't proving anything. That was the exact point she was trying to get to him that night that he'd fought with Hermes.

Thalia should've known he wasn't going to listen. He was angry. Seeing his father, meeting him like that, just intensified his hatred. Luke was seeing red and had been seeing red for days now.

Thalia shook her head. "No." she told him.

"Come on, Thalia. Just think how gratifying it would be to know _we_ took on a sphinx!" Luke coaxed.

"No, Luke," Thalia whispered, careful not to attracted the sphinx's attention. "It's too dangerous! We don't have the weapons or the training. A sphinx is a powerful monster that could kill you in one blow. I'm not going to run into a losing battle and neither are you. You're smarter than that. I know you are."

"It's not a losing battle. You haven't even tried." Luke pressed.

Thalia shook her head slowly, thinking about this. "I don't know, Luke…" she trailed off her eyes straying to the sphinx, which thankfully still hadn't noticed them.

"You're either with me or against me, Thalia." he finally decided, giving her no choice but to go into battle with him. She sure as Hades wasn't going to let him go in alone. If they were going to go down, then they'd go down together.

It was all a blur in Thalia's mind. She remembers charging with Luke. They were a great tag-team, striking and dodging out while the other did the same, from all sides so that the sphinx couldn't land a hit. But they were tiring quickly and the sphinx had just been angered and was roaring so loud car alarms went off outside of the small forest Luke had spotted the sphinx.

She remembers getting hit with a paw, thinking that _this_ was officially the end to her journey. _This_ was the end to everything she'd worked for by running away. Luke jumped in front of her, his sword at the ready as the sphinx roared and lifted onto its hind legs, going to pounce, its two-foot-long claws unsheathed and ready to shred.

A cry of "No!" escaped Thalia's lips as the mighty sphinx started her decent. Then it was like a dream. The sound of a hunting horn pierced the air, drowning out the sphinx's bellows and stopping it in mid-air. Its human face twisted into a mask of hatred and fear at the same time.

Thalia's mouth fell open as the sphinx started to retreat.

"Get away! Get away you nasty girls!" the sphinx cried, backing up more, looking beyond Luke and Thalia, behind them into the dark of the woods.

Thalia stood and turned to look too but couldn't see anything.

"Are you all right?" Luke murmured in her ear, his warm breath dancing across her neck and face.

Thalia, slightly dazed, nodded, wordlessly.

Behind the sphinx reared back again just as a silver arrow whistled past Thalia's head, leaving a streak of moonlight in its path, and shot right through the sphinx almost inaudibly.

From the gloom floated a voice, "Permission to kill, my lady?" The voice had an edge to it, an accent, but it was hard to place. Thalia had never heard an accent like that before. Neither had Luke.

The two demigods exchanged a glance, making sure they'd both heard it. Because who really wanted to go insane by themselves, right?

"Zoë, permission granted." another voice answered.

"Fire!" the first voice ordered.

"Duck!" Luke shouted. They hit the ground just as more silver arrows came whizzing over their heads.

The sphinx barely had time to growl she was already disappearing, whimpering something about grading papers by hand for eternity. Then again, Thalia was having a long night; she could've been hearing things.

After another moment of silence, Luke pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand for her. She had just stood up when the mysterious voices materialized into something solid and human.

They were all girls, about a dozen or so of them. The youngest was probably ten, while the oldest was probably fourteen; Thalia's age. They all wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, armed with bows which were at the ready just in case, Thalia supposed.

They all had determined expressions.

Two girls stepped ahead of the rest of the pack.

One was older. She was tall and walked with grace, even with all uneven terrain here. Her skin was an interesting copper color, and unlike the other girls a silver circlet was braided into the top of her long, dark hair. Thalia had to admit, this girl was gorgeous.

Without really knowing it, she wondered what she looked like to them. Dirt smudges covering her face, her hair—which had grown out by now; just a little past her shoulders—messy and tangled, leave ridden, her clothes ripped and wrinkled.

The second girl was maybe a year or two younger than Thalia. She had auburn hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes glowed a grayish, silvery-ish color, like the full moon. Her expression was authoritative and almost scary.

Thalia rubbed her eyes and blinked hard, making sure this wasn't some kind of dream.

Nope, they were there all right. Still, it was _really_ late, and they were both _really_ tired. There was still a possibility it was some hallucination….

"Two half-bloods, my lady." the eldest of the two announced.

The auburn-haired girl examined them with cold eyes. So cold, Thalia thought, that she was freezing them with her gaze alone.

"Yes," she finally said, her eyes narrowing. "Not of Chiron's camp, though."

This only made Thalia's head reel even more. Who was Chiron? What was this camp she spoke of?

"Wait, wait," Thalia finally managed to say, her head hurting. "It's too late for this. And I'm really tired. Who are you people?"

The two girls exchanged a look before the auburn-haired girl nodded, like she was approving of something. The older of them then stepped forward.

"Zoë Nightshade, lieutenant of the Hunters." she said.

Then the auburn-haired girl stepped forward, her eyes burning bright, but not as cold as before, as she looked at Thalia. "I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."

* * *

><p><strong>.happiness.<strong>

**~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!**


	2. Two

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Percy Jackson**

* * *

><p>Thalia did the sensible thing that anyone in her situation would do when finding out a thirteen-year-old girl is actually one of the major goddesses of Olympus… she fainted.<p>

However it wasn't exactly just that fact. A lot had happened that night. She was tired. She was weary. She was hungry. Some shocking news, like meeting Lady Artemis, and her body just gave out.

No more of this nonsense! It screamed at her before shutting her down.

When Thalia came to, she was lying in a tent. It was silver and made of silk from what Thalia could tell. She felt a little better than before. Not as tired, but still weary. Had that just happened?

The sphinx?

Zoë Nightshade?

Lady Artemis?

The Hunters?

Luke—

Thalia's eyes widened and she gasped. Luke! Was he all right? Where was he? She jumped up and out of the tent, but stopped when she got out, looking around.

Unfortunately for Thalia, it wasn't just some wonky dream. It had really happened.

It was still dark out, and cold. Goosebumps formed on Thalia's arms as soon as she stepped out into the cold air. Her breath was a warm mist in front of her. Moonlight broke through the onslaught of clouds, bathing the small crescent-shaped campsite. Circling around the site a couple feet away where white timber wolves. Falcons were sitting in trees, their eyes flashing when the fire flickered into their eyes. Luke was sitting with his back facing Thalia, at the bonfire sitting in the middle of the camp.

Thalia opened her mouth to call for him when someone else called her name.

"Thalia Grace," Thalia grimaced at the use of her last name, but looked to see who had called her name. It was the dark-haired girl with the silver circlet: Zoë Nightshade. "Come, Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee." she spoke.

Thalia quickly followed as Zoë headed off. She led Thalia to the very last tent, that didn't look any different than the others. But the inside… the inside was nothing you'd expect at all.

Thalia's mouth actually dropped when she ducked inside. The inside was warm, silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. There was a golden brazier of fire burning. Behind the goddess brandished on a polished oak stand was her huge silver bow that was carved to look like gazelle horns. On the walls hung all sorts of animal pelts, some Thalia could recognized easily, others not so much. But what probably surprised Thalia the most was the live deer, with glittering fur and silver horns, sitting next to Artemis, its head resting in her lap.

"Please, have a seat, Thalia Grace." the goddess invited.

Thalia, repressing the face she wanted to make at hearing her last name again, hesitantly sat down across from her. Zoë sat down on Artemis's right.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you here." Artemis finally said. Thalia nodded mutely. "I am inviting you to join the Hunt."

It took a few moments for Thalia to register those words. They swirled around her head before her mind finally comprehended what the goddess had said. She wanted Thalia to join the Hunt?

"W-what would that mean? F-for me? For… for Luke?" she asked faintly.

"For you," Zoë started, "immortality."

Artemis nodded. "You will follow me on my adventures. My Hunters are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once you swear your loyalty to me, you are indeed immortal. Unless you fall in battle, which is highly unlikely, or you break the oath. The oath to renounce romantic love forever," she explained. "To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."

"And… and Luke?" Thalia pressed.

Zoë Nightshade answered this. "_He_ cannot be a Hunter." She said it with such distaste and hatred it took Thalia aback.

"Zoë is correct," Artemis agreed. "He will go to Camp Half-Blood. He will be safe, I assure you."

"But…" Thalia bit her lip, afraid to go against a goddess like this. Sure her father was Zeus, that didn't mean that Artemis still couldn't do something horrible to her without causing physical harm. "But Luke is my family. My only family."

Artemis's eyes lit up with slight surprise by this statement, but her expression stayed leveled. "If you join us, you will have a new family. Us." she countered.

A new family? Sisters-in-arms? Immortality?

Thalia shook her head.

"I-I don't know. I need some time to think about this. I mean, it's just a big decision." Thalia said. "May I-may I step out for moment, please?" she asked looking up at the goddess.

Artemis nodded and Thalia tried not to rush out of there, trying not to offend Artemis. Luke was still sitting in front of the fire, his arms crossed over his knees, his chin resting on his arms. He didn't seem to notice as Thalia stepped out, to her relief.

But looking at Luke, thinking about him made her heart wrench in a way she wished it didn't. She didn't know what to think about Artemis's offer. That meant leaving Luke. How could she do that? Leave Luke to fend for himself? To go to this mysterious demigod camp? All by himself?

Thalia walked away from the campsite, to where the wolves were on guard, not bothered by them at all, and leaned against a tree. The wolves didn't seem to mind her standing there, but weren't exactly all friendly with her either. Thalia didn't mind though, it gave her time think about the ultimatum Artemis had given her.

_I'd never abandon you like our parents did. We'd stick together and take care of each other, like a real family is supposed to do._

That's what Luke had said, so long ago.

Thalia smiled at that memory. How they first met. Holding him up at spear-point. Then her mind strayed to that first night, when she'd slept in the sleeping bag with him. His strong arms wrapped around her, keeping her warm.

Thalia heard sound behind her and she turned her head to see Zoë.

"Artemis would like an answer, Thalia Grace." she said coming to stand next to her.

"Could you maybe _not_ use my last name?" Thalia asked looking over at Zoë. Her eyes flashed. "With all due respect, of course." Thalia added quickly.

Zoë didn't comment on that, instead she asked, "Have you made thy choice, young demigod?"

Thalia looked back at Luke who was still glaring at the fire.

"I can't." she finally said.

"You do not want to?" Zoë's voice sounded incredulous, but with her odd accent it was hard to tell.

"No. I guess I don't." Thalia said. "I can't leave Luke." She turned her head to look over at Zoë, who was staring back at her evenly.

"Do you realize what thou are giving up?" Zoë asked. "Immortality. We will be thy sisters. Thy family. You will never be alone again."

Thalia turned to fully face Zoë haughtily. "I'm _not_ alone! I have Luke." she objected.

Zoë pointed at Luke, her face twisting with abhorrence. "You call _that_ a family?" she spat.

Thalia gaped. "Yes! Is that bad? We've been together for two years! He hasn't abandoned me yet! And I'm sure as Hades not going to abandon him!"

"You _cannot_ trust boys." Zoë stated coldly, her face melting into an unreadable mask. "They all let thee down in the end. And so will Luke." she warned ominously.

"You can tell Artemis: thanks, but no thanks." Thalia blurted without thinking.

Zoë stared solemnly at Thalia for a moment before turning and walked back to the camp.

With a growl, Thalia angrily turned back to look up at the stars, leaning against her tree.

Who was Zoë to tell her that Luke would let her down? She didn't even know Luke! It wasn't fair to him! Luke was Thalia's family! He took care of her and she, him. They'd been a family for two years now. He'd been loyal to her. Sure, he'd led her into some dangerous fights, but he was angry. Everyone had the right to get angry.

Besides… she felt… something with Luke. She'd always had. Since the first time they'd met. She felt warm and safe with him around.

Sighing, Thalia turned and walked back to the campfire, sitting down next to Luke. He was still staring intently at the fire.

"Anything good on, tonight?" she asked jokingly, nudging him with her shoulder, breaking him out of his trance.

He smiled and playfully shoved back.

* * *

><p>The next morning the Hunters broke camp and left without a single word to Luke or Thalia. Nothing about that weird half-blood camp they kept mentioning, or the decision Artemis had presented Thalia either.<p>

They went separate ways, Thalia still resenting Zoë Nightshade for telling her that Luke would betray her. She just couldn't wrap her head around it. It wasn't going to happen!

Several days later Luke and Thalia had traveled to another small town. The night was still young, and they hadn't eaten since the Hunters visit, and more monsters had been chasing them. Like right now, they were trying to avoid a hellhound. They were both beat and knew if they got into a fight, one of them was going to slip up and both of them were likely to die.

"Do you think we lost it?" Thalia asked in a whisper, peeking around an alleyway corner, gripping the shaft of her spear, her shield out.

"I think so," Luke answered just as quiet, leaning against the wall and sliding down. "For now at least." he muttered.

Thalia sat down next to him, relaxing for once in days. Thalia closed her eyes and gently leaned against Luke, drifting as soon as her head fell onto Luke's shoulder. Luke rested his cheek on the top her head, closing his eyes as well, but keeping alert.

Not a moment later did they hear a noise somewhere down the alley. Both of them were up on their feet, wielding their weapons, ready for a fight.

"Where do you think it came from?" Thalia asked, her eyes darting around, trying to see any moving shadows through the gloom.

The same noise sounded.

"Over there," Luke whispered, gesturing with his chin. Together, perfectly in sync, they moved forward with stealth. The noise came again, echoing off the walls, a little louder, indicating they were heading in the right direction.

Thalia crept along the wall, Luke right behind her and looked over into the next alley, seeing a long shadow fall across one of the walls, illuminated by a dim bulb.

She pulled back and looked over at Luke, nodding to confirm that something was lurking down there.

"Looks… human." she told him.

"Maybe he's got cash." Luke suggested.

Cash meant food and food meant energy. No more hunger pains in her hollow stomach. Just thinking about food made her mouth water profusely.

"Maneuver twenty-six?" Thalia asked. Luke nodded in agreement before getting into place on the other side of the entrance to the other connecting alley.

Thalia looked over at him and mouthed the countdown, "_One, two, three!_" Luke darted forward, Thalia on his heels.

As he blocked the figure's path, Thalia swung her spear and tripped him up. He landed on the ground with an _oof!_

Both Luke and Thalia held their weapons, poised at the figure.

"My-name-is-Grover-I'm-a-protector-and-was-sent-to-find-you-guys-I-swear-I'm-not-a-monster-I've-come-to-take-you-to-Camp-Half-Blood-please-don't-kill-me!" the figure whimpered, in one big breath.

Now that the danger had passed, Thalia assessed the situation, getting a good look at this person…. Well, with further inspection she realized that this Grover person, wasn't a person at all. The top half was human at least, the bottom half had fur and hooves, like a goat.

"A satyr." Luke said nodding down at Grover.

Thalia threw her spear into her left hand and held her right out for Grover and hauled him to his feet, er, hooves.

"All right, goat boy, what is this camp that everyone keeps mentioning?" Thalia asked.

Grover made a face at his new nickname. "Camp Half-Blood," he explained anyway. "It's kind of self explanatory. It's a camp for half-bloods like you guys. I'm supposed to take you guys there." His face paled. "And it better be quick, the only reason I found you guys was because of the monster scent trails."

Thalia and Luke exchanged a look and scowled.

"Hades found out that Zeus broke the oath," Luke explained. Thalia looked at him her eyebrows shooting up, her mouth dropping slightly.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"I meant to tell you when I found out but—"

"But what?" Thalia asked cutting him off taking a step forward. Grover gulped nervously and took two steps back. "It wasn't important enough? How could you forget to tell me something like that?" For a moment what Zoë Nightshade had told her came to the forefront of her mind.

"The telkhine was the one who told me. I was going to tell you, I swear. But you were injured and our shelter was destroyed. I was a little distraught." Luke quickly explained.

Thalia simmered down, feeling slightly guilty now. "Sorry." she mumbled stepping back and dropping her gaze.

Luke pulled her into a hug. "I understand." He pulled back and turned to face Grover again. "Hades found out and is sending these monsters after us. He won't stop." Luke looked down at Thalia with concern. "Not until she's dead."

"Then we'd better get going." Grover advised readjusting the Rasta cap on his head.

* * *

><p>"Keep going!" Grover gasped as the three of them ran. "We're almost there!"<p>

Light flashed above, the sky illuminating with a bright, blue-white light before dimming again. Thunder followed with ear-splitting cracks. Cold, spitting rain poured down on the trio, who were trying to get away from the horde of monsters chasing after them. They were far now, but gaining quickly. Quicker than any of them wanted.

Several hundred yards away a hill appeared.

Half-Blood Hill.

They were so close!

Thalia risked a glance behind them. _So close,_ she thought turning back around to look at the hill in the distance. _Yet so far away._

"Look out!" Luke shouted stopping and turning to face the three hellhounds that had managed to run ahead of the pack.

Thalia and Grover stopped, Thalia brandishing her shield, tightening her grip on the shaft of her spear.

Grover nervously tugged at her shirt. "We can't! We have to go! They're gaining." His voice shook.

One lunged and Thalia stabbed it. It dodged expertly, rolling away. Grover yelped.

"We have no choice!" Thalia shouted as more thunder rumbled overhead.

Luke was trying to fend off another hellhound, but he had to get in close with only his bronze knife to use as a weapon.

"Help if you can!" Thalia shouted at him before running toward the hound that had just attacked her with a battle cry. She stabbed and slashed at the monster, it getting angrier and angrier with every injury. "Die already!" she growled frustrated.

It lunged again and slammed into her. Not expecting this. Thalia fell back onto the soggy ground. Mud and cold rain water seeped into her clothes, but none of that mattered.

Heart pounding, blood roaring in her ears, Thalia retracted Aegis. She tried to get up just as the hellhound pounced. Thankfully with all the adrenaline rushing through her veins, and her ADHD that kept her alive in battles like this, she raised her spear and plunged it straight through the hound.

Its lava-red eyes widened, its jaw's gaping. Thalia shoved the hound off her and pulled her spear out and turned to look for Luke.

There was only one hellhound left. But a large black mass caught Thalia's attention. The lightning flashed overhead and with a jolt she realized that the mass were the monsters, lead by all three of the Furies. Closer than ever now.

"Luke!" Thalia shouted against her better judgment.

"Kind of busy!" Luke replied back as the hound flung a paw out. He dodged fluidly and ran in to make a strike of his own before dashing back out of the line of fire. Unfortunately his foot slipped underneath the unstable earth. Thalia darted forward, her heart turning to lead and sinking slowly. She was too far away, even now.

"Luke!" she cried in pure terror.

Before the hound could do anything though, a tin can hit the side of its head and bounced off harmlessly. The thing swung its head around, its eyes trained on Grover now. Thalia pushed harder, her chest on fire, her vision blurred slightly because of all the rain, her body shaking because of the cold.

Grover threw another tin can at it, but that only seemed to make it more ticked off.

The hound threw out a paw; claws sheathed because apparently he wasn't that important, and knocked him to the ground. He didn't get up.

"Grover!" Thalia shouted. No response.

By now, Luke had gotten up and was fighting the monster again. Thalia came to help and together they sent it back to the Underworld.

"We need to move, _now!_" Thalia shouted, looking worriedly over at the ever-growing mass. They were extremely close. Any leeway they could've had had evaporated now. Their chances of making it to camp was a million to none.

Luke and Thalia both threw one of Grover's arms over their shoulders and started stumbling toward Half-Blood Hill. Every now again Grover would mutter, "Food."

"Come on," Thalia groaned. "Wake up, goat boy!"

With effort and every last shred of energy Luke and Thalia had, they trudged up the hill, but at the top Thalia glanced back.

She shoved Grover into Luke. "_Go._" she commanded, slapping her bracelet.

Luke's eyes widened. "I'm not leaving you!" he shouted shaking his head, droplets of water spraying every which way.

Thalia looked back at the black mass, just seeing the smiles of satisfaction from the Furies, before meeting Luke's beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that she wished she could stare into forever. "You have to! We're not going to make it." Now, Thalia wasn't the type to cry. But her heart ached as she forced herself to say these words. And she was thankful that it was raining.

"Yes, we are! Don't say that!" Luke's voice shook.

"Food!" Grover moaned again.

Thalia looked back at the monsters. They were mere yards away from the base of the hill. Her throat clogged up.

"Luke you have taken care of me for two years now!" she told him in a rush, reaching up to caress his face. "Now it's my turn. I'm going to hold them. It should give you enough time to get down there. To safety."

Luke's eyes tightened with pain. "Thalia…"

"We have to make sacrifices." she said pulling her hand back. "I'm saying goodbye." She paused momentarily. "I have to."

"Thalia, I—" Luke started.

"Go!"

Reluctantly, with Grover's arm still thrown over his shoulder, Luke descended the hill and ran as fast as he could to big, blue house.

He laid Grover down on the porch of the house and turned back to look at the hill. Thalia stood bravely, her head held high, her shield and spear at the ready. Then, like a wave of pure darkness they were on her. Luke couldn't distinguish what exactly was happening as Thalia jabbed and slashed with her spear, blocking their demonic claws with her shield.

The Furies circled overhead, waiting for a chance to dive in.

But more came, faster than she could disintegrate them. They surrounded her on the hill.

Luke's heart lurched in his chest as he watched in horror, as one of the Furies ripped her shield from her arm. Another taking her spear and snapping it half. Giving one of the hellhounds a chance to rack its claws across her back.

He was too far away to hear her screams of agony, but he felt as if he could hear them, ringing in his ears, clawing at his heart, shredding it to ribbons.

Thalia fell and disappeared in the mass, but before the monsters could do anything else there was a great flash. So great, Luke had to turn his head away. But he felt the air pressure change, he felt all the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up on end; he smelled ozone.

When the light faded and Luke looked back to where Thalia had fallen, there stood a tree.

A pine tree. Tall, healthy, fully grown.

There were no monsters to be seen within miles.

Like always, thunder followed, but this thunder was like nothing Luke had ever heard before. His hands flew up to his ears, the sound reverberating in his chest, the ground shaking from the force the clashing clouds caused. The house groaned, rattling with the ground.

_Zeus._ Luke thought. It had to be. But why? Why now? He'd never shown he cared about Thalia in the first place. Now that she's dying he decides to do something. And it had to be turning her into a tree? His best friend, his companion on the run was a tree! How was that fair! How was that justice?

If anything, Thalia should've died and gone to Elysium for sacrificing herself for Luke and Grover to get to safety. Instead, she'd be a tree. Eternally. Not dead, but not alive either.

Luke's jaw clenched.

A wave of pure, black, unadulterated hatred washed over Luke then.

He _loathed_ them.

_Despised_ them.

Every last Olympian. His father especially.

He wanted them to pay for what happened with Thalia. This was all their fault! Directly, indirectly, it didn't matter! They're the ones who caused this!

The sound of a door opening caught Luke's attention. He turned to see a centaur standing in the doorway. Without a word, he helped a now half-conscious Grover to his feet and started inside, taking one swift glance at the pine tree.

A shiver ran down Luke's spine as a deep, icy, ancient chuckle filled his mind.

* * *

><p>Air.<p>

Oxygen.

No CO2. Actual air!

And lungs.

And limbs.

And…

Memories. Just on the brink of her conscious thought. Swathed in fog and tendrils.

She could remember…

_"We can't! We have to go! They're gaining!"_

Grover. Yes, the satyr. The one who led them to… Camp Half-Blood that was it.

What else…

_Luke._

Luke! Yes, and their years of travel together. The Hunters. Lady Artemis. It was all coming back now! She remembered the hounds. The three Furies. Running. Rain. Giving Luke and Grover time to get to that big house. And then… nothing. It was all a blur.

Thalia sat up and looked at herself. She was wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing when—

Her leather jacket with her favorite bands buttons, her black tee and black, ripped jeans. Her converse.

But she felt… older, though. Somehow. Yet, she felt still fourteen at the same time. Thalia's eyebrows furrowed. How long had it been? What had even happened?

Slowly, still getting used to using her body again, Thalia stood up. She looked behind and saw a tall pine tree. Something stirred within her, and despite the warmth, she felt cold. Hollow.

Had she been the pine tree…?

Thalia examined what lay beyond the hill she never made past. Fields of ripe strawberries, a large forest, a volleyball court, that big house that was now red. Although, she could've sworn that last time she saw it, it had been blue….

Thalia's stomach sank. Had it really been _that_ long?

People, demigods, satyrs milled around. It was teeming with life. But no one seemed to notice the girl, dressed in all black, with electric blue eyes, standing at the peak of Half-Blood Hill next to a pine tree, that she was pretty sure used to be her.

And maybe that was a good thing.

Carefully, Thalia made her way down the hill and toward the camp. No one seemed to take note of her as she passed, which Thalia found odd, but comforting. How would they react to her appearance? Did they even know about her? Her story? Luke's story?

Speaking of Luke, was he here? Was he safe? Thalia couldn't live knowing that all her efforts to save him and Grover were in vain! Her heart ached at the mere thought of him. She missed him terribly. She had to find him.

But where to start?

That's when she spotted a familiar-looking, half-goat, half-boy just trotting into the forest. Looking around and biting her lip, she started to follow him jogging to just keep up.

"Grover!" she called in a whisper. A whisper because she didn't want anyone else knowing about her existence. Not yet anyway. She wanted to see Luke first.

Grover stopped and looked around. His eyes wide. His heart pounding.

"H-h-hello?" he asked, his voice shaking. "W-w-who's there?"

"Over here!" Thalia called quietly again. Grover looked to his left, his eyes widening even more, if that was even possible.

"I-I've seen tree nymphs, but this is ridiculous." he muttered to himself, taking a few steps over to a large oak.

Thalia rolled her eyes and sighed. _Same old Grover,_ she thought, stepping out from behind some trees and closer to him.

"No, goat boy. Right _here_." she said louder, making herself known.

With a yelp, Grover jumped and turned to look at Thalia. He seemed frozen for a moment.

"T-T-Thalia…?" he asked in a hoarse whisper. Thalia nodded with a small, tentative smile pulling at her lips.

Grover's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went down, just like that. Thalia leaped forward to catch him.

"Grover!" she hissed. "Wake up!" she pleaded, looking around frantically. She hadn't meant to shock him. Okay, so she'd been a tree for however long and now she was suddenly, magically back. It wasn't _that_ bad. Well, it wasn't to Thalia at least.

Letting out a groan, she shook him. He mumbled something, but didn't wake up. Thalia racked her brain for information about him, trying to remember what he liked to eat back when they'd been traveling together.

"Uh… uh… food! Tin cans!" she listed off. "Um… apples. Cheese enchiladas!"

That seemed to get his attention. His eyes snapped opened and Thalia helped right him.

"Is it really you?" Grover asked peering at Thalia, with narrowed eyes.

"It's really me, goat boy." Thalia answered.

"I'm so sorry!" Grover burst throwing his arms around Thalia. "It's all my fault." He pulled back and sniffled. His eyes were watery. "If I hadn't taken that wrong turn…." he mumbled looked down dejectedly. "I'm such a failure."

"Hey, come on," Thalia comforted. "It wasn't your fault. There were just too many. We wouldn't have made it anyway. You're _not_ a failure."

Grover sniffled again. "I suppose…." He sighed.

"How-how long has it been?" Thalia asked meekly, afraid of what he'd say.

"Five… five years, probably." Grover answered.

"_Five_ years? W-what…? W-wh— Is… is Luke…?" She trailed off, her stomach quivering.

Grover didn't say anything for a long time and Thalia started to feel lightheaded, the worst surfacing.

"He's not… He's not…" She couldn't say it. The word got stuck in her throat.

Grover's eyes widened. "No!" he exclaimed. Thalia relaxed, letting out the breath she'd been holding in. "No, he isn't. But… five years is a long time. Things… things change." he warned.

"Just tell me where he is." Thalia requested, her heart soaring.

"Let me think," Grover muttered. "I think the last time I saw him, he was just starting the surprise cabin inspection. But before you go—"

Too late.

Thalia had already headed off, back the way she'd followed Grover and started to make her way to the cabins. She slowed as she came close to the inverted U. There weren't many demigods around, so Thalia took that chance to dash across the U and to the cabin that looked like your regular old camp cabin. Wooden, old, worn down, with the brown paint peeling; the only difference being that it had the symbol of Hermes—a caduceus—over the doorway.

Thalia knew that he was a child of Hermes, and if he was doing cabin inspection then he'd surely do his cabin first, right?

Without _really_ thinking it through, she opened the door and stepped in, shutting it behind her.

The cabin was nearly empty with bunk-beds. Sleeping bags were also strewn across the floor, like the beds weren't enough for all the half-bloods in here.

And there, in the middle with a clipboard and pencil in his hand, stood a taller, more muscular, sandy-blond haired boy that Thalia had come to know and love (maybe even more than family).

He turned at the sound of the door. His wintery blue eyes widened and the clipboard and pencil clattered to the floor of the cabin. Meanwhile Thalia took in the perturbing, thick, white scar that ran down from his right eye to his jaw. That was new.

Before Thalia could say anything, Luke ran forward and she was engulfed into his strong, warm, familiar embrace. Thalia wrapped her arms around him tightly, inhaling his sweet scent.

Luke buried his nose in her hair, kissed her hair, kissed her forehead, her cheeks. There was a small moment when his lips hovered over hers….

He wasn't going to lie. Losing Thalia was the worst, hardest thing that had ever happened to him. More than seeing his mother have one of her fits. More than when he'd failed at stealing a Golden Apple from the Garden of Hesperides. More than finding out his father knew his fate and wouldn't even tell him.

Losing her… it was like the world had just been ripped from underneath him. Like he ceased to exist; like the fire that lit his soul had been smothered; like he'd been a zombie this whole time, going through the motions of everyday life when you were a year-rounder at Camp Half-Blood. Losing her had been the most painful thing he'd ever gone through. Worse than any physical pain that Luke had ever felt in his life.

His lips hovered over hers for another moment, but then both Thalia and Luke pulled away at the same time.

Blue penetrated blue.

Two hearts beat in sync.

And all that could be heard was their ragged breathing.

* * *

><p>Thalia had been back for several days now. And she was still adjusting to being human again. It was odd. Not to mention hard. Whenever she tried to think of the <em>five years<em> she'd spend as a tree she couldn't really remember anything. It gave her a migraine. It was like when you went to sleep. You're sort of suspended in some kind of state. Just… there.

And she didn't know how old she was either. She knew she'd aged, but much, much slower. In reality she should've been nineteen but she didn't look nineteen at all. She looked much younger, like closer to fourteen, really.

Thalia let out a frustrated sigh and sat up in her bunk. She was staying in Zeus's cabin—obviously—and her arrival had everyone talking and murmuring. No one really talked to her. Well, they talked _about_ her, but never really _to_ her face. She managed to befriend another camper at least.

Annabeth: long, blonde hair and striking grey eyes; daughter of Athena. Luke had introduced them. They became good friends pretty quickly. It was one of those instant connection things. Like one look and you felt like you'd been buddies for life. She liked to hang out with Grover, Annabeth and Luke a lot.

But she'd come at the perfect time: in the middle of a godly crisis. Her father's master bolt had been stolen and now this kid who'd arrived days earlier was being blamed for it.

Percy Jackson was his name. He was sixteen, slight, had a mess of jet black hair, and striking sea green eyes. The son of Poseidon. That was probably why Zeus blamed him. But Thalia didn't see why he had to be so rash as to accuse Percy of a crime like that. The kid could barely handle a sword let alone get to Mount Olympus and steal his mater bolt right from under his nose. He didn't even believe in the gods when he first arrived!

Even so, she was curious who could've possibly stolen his item of power. It had to have been a half-blood because of the gods couldn't take each other's items of power. But which half-blood? That was the question.

Well, you know what they say, right? Ask and you shall receive. And that's just what happened to Thalia.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something?" Luke questions, approaching her late one summer afternoon. She'd been lounging around the lake, skipping her arts and crafts (shh, don't tell anyone!).

"Sure, what about?" she asked looking up at him.

"Um… could we maybe talk about this inside?" Luke requested. He didn't seem nervous, but knowing him so well, Thalia knew that something was up. She nodded, standing and followed him as he led her into the empty Hermes cabin. How he had managed to empty it was beyond her.

Luke sat down, Thalia followed, sitting adjacent to him so she could face him.

"So, what's up?" she questioned. "Luke?" she asked uncertainly when he didn't answer for a long time.

Luke looked up from the floor, his eyes catching Thalia's. Her breath caught.

"I'm the lightning thief." he finally said.

Thalia's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. She looked at him stunned for a moment before, just like that, she got up and left the cabin.

Luke? Her Luke was the lightning thief? He'd stolen her dad's mater bolt? But… but why? When? How?

Thalia hissed and stormed back to her cabin, slamming the door so hard the whole cabin shook. She started pacing, eyebrows furrowed, as she thought intensely.

What was she going to do? Tell Chiron? But he'd probably hand the matter over to the gods and who knew what would happen to Luke then. What about Annabeth? She was trustworthy. She'd come to know Luke, and Thalia knew she'd developed some sort of crush on him (much to Thalia's disappointment that made the little green monster rear its ugly head). Surely she wouldn't rat him out. They could work this out together.

Still… Thalia had only known Annabeth for a short while now. Maybe she could confront Luke herself and if she needed any help then, yes, she'd go to Annabeth and Percy too. Because he deserved to know and be free of the target on his back.

Thalia didn't know. She just needed some time to think about what Luke had said. Time to absorb all this and make sure she went through all her options. Here and now was not the time to make any impulsive decisions.

For the next few days she avoided Luke as best she could. Making her mind up was taking a lot longer. And it wasn't _just_ the decision; she also had to sift through the turmoil of emotions that were running through her right now. There was so many, so overwhelming that she could barely recognize any of the feeling, aside from the fear for Luke.

Finally she got up the courage to go talk to him. To confront him about all that was happening.

She marched up to the Hermes cabin. The door was open and there were only a few demigods inside, including Luke.

She knocked on the doorframe while simultaneously saying, "Knock, knock." Her front had come up. She was trying to hide the fact that being here absolutely terrified her. But she cared about Luke. She wasn't going to see him crash and burn. She wasn't going to let him.

Luke came forward with a mischievous smile on his face. "Figured you'd stop by sooner or later."

She smirked back up at him ruefully, her eyes slightly narrowed. They sparked dangerously.

Luke turned to the few people inside. "Could you give us a moment?" he requested. They looked hesitant but filed out without a word (even if it was camp rules). Luke walked in, taking Thalia's hand for a moment and pulling her in after him. She closed the door and turned to face him.

"I wanted to talk to you about this whole… lightning bolt thing." she murmured, turning to face him. "I just don't think—"

Luke took a step toward her. "I'm going to be leaving soon." he interrupted.

Thalia searched the depths of his liquid blue eyes, her own sparkling blue eyes full of questions.

"Where? Why?" she whispered.

"I-I can't tell you. Not unless you fully support me." he told her.

Thalia shook her head. "Luke, I just don't know—"

"It'd be just like old times, though Thalia. You and me. Together again."

It did sound appealing. They hadn't been a duo since… well since she'd first turned into a tree.

"But, the danger. The monsters that'd be after us." Thalia reminded him.

"That's what's so great about this! You wouldn't be in danger at all anymore."

So powerful they wouldn't be in danger of monsters? That scared Thalia. That meant what he was planning was big. Huge, even.

"Luke, I've already lost you once." she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, her heart aching from the mere memory of finding out how long she'd been in that suspended state. She shook her head, "I can't let that happen again!"

Luke stepped back, shifted from foot to foot, looking first to his left, then at Thalia—his eyes darker than before—then to his right. "I can't do that. I'm sorry," He stepped past Thalia. "I have no choice." The door to the Hermes cabin closed, as tears slid down Thalia's cheeks. She looked over her shoulder at the closed door.

She only had one more choice. And she wasn't going to waste any time. Because time was running out. For her, and for Luke.

* * *

><p>Thalia went in search for Annabeth and Percy the next day (because that was the time that she managed to get away from it all). It was probably sheer dumb luck she'd found them together, talking next to the canoe lake. She walked up, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.<p>

Percy looked up. "Hey," he greeted.

Annabeth smiled.

"I need your help." Thalia said getting straight to the point.

"What for?" Annabeth asked noticing how Thalia stood, the tone of her voice, her facial expression.

Thalia quickly explained what was going on. About Luke and about what'd he'd done.

"What can we do?" Percy asked looking a little peeved, not that he didn't have the right to be. Luke did steal the mater bolt and then have Percy take the blame.

Thalia and Percy both looked at Annabeth.

"Let's hit the road." she said, walking away from the lake, the gears already turning in her head; an escape plan and a way to the get to Manhattan.

"M'kay." Thalia agreed following.

It was dark when they arrived in Manhattan.

"And you're sure that he's going to be here?" Thalia asked still looking up at the Empire State Building.

"It's the obvious choice," Annabeth explained. "It is, after all, the only way to get to Olympus. Though what he's going to do up there I really don't know."

Dark thunderclouds crashed together and the wind blew and howled, arctic and chilling to the bone, even though it was summer.

"We'd better hurry." Percy said, looking up at the very top of the building.

The person at the front desk denied anything that had to do with the 600 floor, so the three headed to the roof—the highest they _could_ go—thinking that was the next best place. If he wouldn't let them up then surely he wouldn't let Luke up, right?

Percy stepped out first, scanning the area, Annabeth followed, on high alert as well. Thalia followed the two, lagging behind; wary of what was going to go down now. Her heart fluttered behind her ribs and her stomach was doing flip-flops.

Sure enough, about halfway out Luke appeared out of the gloom in full Greek battle armor, except for the helmet. Percy tensed, ready for anything Luke might throw at them, Annabeth gripped the strap her of her messenger bag.

Luke took one look at Percy and Annabeth before glaring accusingly toward Thalia.

"You betrayed me." Luke stated angrily. "We were together. We were happy."

Thalia flinched at those words. "I'm sorry." she apologized.

"Yeah, me too." he responded. He raised his hand, the lightning bolt appearing, crackling and sparking. "You know what this means, right?" he asked in a low voice.

The bolt buzzed and the hair on Thalia's arms rose. Her breath caught, afraid that he'd actually harm her, after all the things they'd been through. However, just as the lightning was exiting the bolt, Luke was engulfed with water. Thalia looked away through the corners of her eyes, not wanting to watch what was happening.

The water dispersed into mist to reveal a dripping wet Luke, on the ground. He was still gripping the bolt tightly in his hand, but he was too preoccupied coughing, spluttering, and retching up the water that'd gone down his windpipe.

Luke stood shakily, turning the bolt in his hands. His chest was heaving and he was glowering at the three of them, but mostly Percy. Slowly, he started to raise the bolt again, but words came out of Thalia's mouth as he did so.

"Don't do that!" she shouted. Percy and Annabeth turned their heads to look back at her, but she kept her gaze steady with Luke's.

Electric blue burning into glacial blue.

"Give me one good reason." Luke retorted.

And it was in that moment—that _very_ moment—that Thalia knew. Of course, she'd known it all along, but was too afraid to actually face it. Her heart soared and the adrenaline raced through her bloodstream. Tremors ran through her body.

Thalia turned away momentarily, before spinning around and saying the three (technically four) words that she should've said a long time ago, hoping it wasn't too late:

"Because I love you."

_Just so you know, there's a space__ that only you can fill. Just so you know, I loved you then, I guess I always will. ~ Unknown_

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed and I hope I did a good job of interpreting the video into a story. Thanks for reading!<strong>** And thanks again to krs19911!**

**.happiness.**

**~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!**


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